Ferncroft teamed with Crow Holdings to buy the property from an affiliate of development firm Faison for $22 million.

Northlake Commons was completed in 2006. It sits on 22 acres bounded by West W.T. Harris Boulevard, Northlake Center Parkway and Northlake Mall Drive. The retail center is surrounded by Northlake Mall, Northcrest Shopping Center and the Perimeter Woods Shopping Center. Inland Diversified Real Estate Trust Inc. bought the latter two centers earlier this year for $27 million and $54 million, respectively.

Northlake Commons features 78,839 square feet of in-line shop space anchored by Panera Bread and Men’s Wearhouse. On five outparcel sites surrounding the shops, Olive Garden, On the Border, Chili’s, Chick-fil-A and Red Robin have built nearly 30,000 square feet of total restaurant space.

Ferncroft principal John Hollmeyer says his firm liked the retail center’s proximity to interstates 77 and 485. And he notes several apartment developers have started work or are planning more than 1,000 units in the area.

Northlake Commons is 70% occupied, and Ferncroft plans to cut its rental rates to fill the remaining vacancy over the next several years. The firm has hired New South Properties of the Carolinas to handle leasing.

“We think this is really well positioned for the next couple of years,” Hollmeyer says.

Dallas-based Crow Holdings is a privately held firm that makes real estate investments on behalf of the Trammell Crow family and its investment partners. The firm recently purchased the 12-building Woodland Business Park, an industrial development, for $43 million, from TA Associates Realty.

Hollmeyer and Jeff Thomas, both alums of Lat Purser & Associates Inc., formed Ferncroft in 2007. Ferncroft teams with other investors to acquire retail, office and industrial properties across the Southeast, with a special focus on the Carolinas. Earlier this year, Ferncroft teamed with Washington real estate investment firm PRP to buy the Park Avenue building in South End for $15 million.

Since launching, Ferncroft has partnered with investors on seven deals totaling $87 million and 725,000 square feet.

Hollmeyer says the firm continues to look for investment opportunities in “A” locations where it can realize some upside value by increasing occupancy, for example.

“It’s still really hard to find good investment deals,” he says. “There’s a huge amount of capital chasing them, so it makes the good deals competitive.”